Mexico
Although many people just go for the beaches, Mexico offers impressive mountain
vistas (pictured in Puerto Vallarta), great food, and historic ruins that compete
with the best in the world. Begin Your Journey!

Barbados
This Caribbean island has hints of British culture, but is wholly Caribbean as well.
Explore Barbados!

Culture & Identity of Trinidad & Tobago

Introduction

The culture in Trinidad & Tobago is heavily based on ethnicity, religion, and
history as the country is fairly diverse and each ethnic group has different traditions
and customs. The way of life is just as diverse as it seems there is no regular
in Trinidad & Tobago.

Trinidad & Tobago is an oddity in that nearly the entire population lives in
more rural areas, but few work in agriculture. Most people work in the services
sector, but there are a great number of jobs in other fields as well. Many of these
occupations help contribute to the daily routine, but so does the many individual
cultures.

Many jobs provide a set schedule, giving many people a daily routine, but other
jobs have inconsistent hours, especially some services jobs in rural areas, and
others, like farming are based on the weather and other things out of the people's
control, meaning there is no real set routine.

Like the varied schedule jobs provide, the way of life in other ways is just as
unpredictable. Many of the Indians have dietary restrictions as most free time is
spent with family, many of the Europeans live a life that more closely reflects
that of the North America or Europe, and many of the Africans maintain a lifestyle
that mirrors that of much of the Caribbean.

From work to school and from entertainment to family, there is no single way of
life in Trinidad & Tobago. Like the culture, the way of life is diverse and
quite individual.

Identity

The people of Trinidad & Tobago identify
in numerous ways. For most people, they first identify by their ethnicity, which
can be Indian, Chinese, African (or black), Hispanic, or American Indian. The ethnicity
of the individual often has a stronger impact on the lifestyle and culture of each
person and therefore this is the primary identity for most people. Nearly everyone
also identifies in a secondary manner. As the people talk to each other on the islands
they often view themselves as Trinidadian or Tobagonian to distinguish where they
are from or even by their city or town. However, as they speak to foreigners they
tend to identify themselves as a citizen of Trinidad & Tobago and they wear
this identity with pride, even correcting others by saying they are not "Indian,"
but rather are an ethnic Indian who lives in Trinidad & Tobago as if this is
a source of pride and a means to differentiate themselves from Indians living in
India.